Andrade and Taylor Make Their ShoBox Marks with Authority

By Jason Gonzalez at ringsidew

Huntington, Long Island---For the second time in merely three days, boxing returned to the “Empire State.” But whenever the Big Apple plays host to the “Sweet Science,” typically it’s in one of the five boroughs. However, things were shaken up a bit last week - but in a good way. That said, the Showtime network agreed it was okay to be different, which is why the latest installment of “ShoBox: The New Generation” took place at the Paramount Theater in “Strong Island.”

Long Island has done a lot more than just produce some of the world’s most recognizable entertainers. Long Island is enriched in sports history, making it a great sports town, producing the likes of Gerry Cooney, Craig Biggio and Tom Gugliotta to name a few.

So it wasn’t a shocker to see a packed house cheer on highly decorated former amateur Demetrius Andrade in the main event. Andrade kept his undefeated record intact after administering a royal thrashing to Freddy Hernandez, of Mexico , over the course of 10 rounds. Andrade showcased his talent and skill from the opening bell by utilizing a piston-like jab, followed by three and four-punch combinations to Hernandez’s body and head. When it was all said and done, all three judges scored the bout identically at 100-89 for the native of Providence, Rhode Island. With the victory, Andrade improves to 19-0 (13).

Hernandez, a junior middleweight, brought the valuable intangible of experience with him. Hernandez, 30-4 (20), has been in the ring with some of the “big dawgs” between 147 and 154 pounds, facing the likes of Andre Berto and Erislandy Lara. He most recently defeated former world champion Luis Collazo.

But none of that meant a thing to Virgil Hunter’s newest pupil. (Hunter was 2011’s “Trainer of the Year”). Andrade would cap off his dominating performance with a sixth round knockdown but to no one’s surprise, Hernandez got up and kept fighting. Nothing in life is ever guaranteed but one thing is for sure; expect Andrade to challenge for a world title before the year is over.

Andrade was unavailable for comment.

In the co-feature bout of the evening, welterweight Emmanuel Taylor of Edgewood, Maryland impressively stopped Raymond Serrano of Philadelphia at the 1:42 mark of the sixth round in their scheduled 10-rounder. A barrage of punches from Taylor landed flush on Serrano’s grill, causing him to drop his arms against the ropes, leaving him defenseless, prompting referee Steve Willis to save Serrano from any further damage.

Serrano, now 18-2 (8), is a testament to the mantra “It doesn’t matter how you start. What matters is how you finish.” And although Serrano may have set the tone early in the contest, he fell well short of the finish line.

Taylor, 16-1 (11), stepped on the gas pedal between the third and fourth rounds. He capitalized on Serrano’s wide, looping shots with perfectly timed counters. It was at this juncture where it was established who the bigger puncher was. As the momentum shifted in Taylor’s favor, it was obvious to all ringside observers that it was just a matter of time before he knocked out Serrano. Taylor was taking Serrano’s punches a lot better than Serrano was taking Taylor’s.

“The Hebrew Hammer” Cletus Seldin, 143.25, of Shirley, Long Island, threw 332 punches en route to improving to 10-0 (8), after stopping his opponent, Luis Rodriguez, within three rounds at the 2:44 mark of the round. That’s right, mi gente; Seldin averaged more than a 100 punches per round.

Seldin’s opponent from Albany, New York had nothing for him. In fact, Rodriguez who, with the loss, now stands at 6-7-1 (1), made Seldin look more like Lennox Lewis as Seldin jabbed and boxed around the ring.

“I started doing it in practice,” said Seldin regarding his newly acquired jab. “I did it in my last fight and it actually works.”

By the third frame, a Seldin left hook to the liver floored Rodriguez, only to see Rodriguez eat a monster left hook to the dome, putting him on the seat of his pants yet again. Referee Ricky Gonzalez didn’t need to see much more.

Lightweight prospect Alan Gotay, 133.75, of Huntington, only needed 45 seconds to improve to 3-0 (2). Gotay knocked out Shane Reynolds, 133, of Cincinnati, Ohio, now 1-2 (1), after hurting him early on in the contest. A two-punch combination to Reynolds’ jaw put his lights out for good.

Junior middleweights Raul Nuncio,154.75, of Glen Cove, Long Island, 2-1-2 (1), and Marcus Beckford, 154.75, of Uniondale, Long Island, 0-0-1, battled to a four-round draw. The scorecards read 37-37 across the board.

Beckford dropped Nuncio in the first round; however, Beckford lost that extra point by hitting Nuncio below the belt in the third. The point deduction determined the outcome of the fight. Had it not occurred, Beckford would have won a unanimous decision by one point.

In the opening bout of the evening, heavyweight Constantin Bejenaru, 217, of Catskill, New York, 9-0 (3), dropped the very ineffective and talentless Michael Mullooly, 243, of Erie, New York, twice before referee Ricky Gonzalez stopped the fight in the first round at the 1:33 mark.

With the loss Mullooly dropped to 4-3 (3). Who would have ever thought you would hear the words “heavyweight” and “Catskill” and not hear the name “Mike Tyson” after them?

Jay Gon’s Ringside Tidbits:

- There were no tables at press row.

- As could be established by this report, post-fight interviews were impossible to conduct.

- The Paramount Theater usually has a blue-collar feel. Typically, it’s a great venue to attend events like boxing but it was a little disappointing seeing it go corporate. Hopefully it was for one night only.

- Last but not least, it was a good show. Joe DeGuardia and Ron Katz of Star Boxing put together a good card, making a fun night at the fights.